What is the experience of interpreting in an English court?

working in the UK over the years, I have taken advantage of the job opportunity to run through some large and small occasions and meetings, and I am often asked about more interesting experiences, of which the experience of interpreting in English courts is one of them. There are personal reasons. When I was an undergraduate, I joined the department debate team. Although I was very weak (for example, I often forgot words on the spot), I enjoyed the process of watching others talk about each other, so I enjoyed my work experience in court very much. At the same time, I am also very grateful for this experience, which allows me to learn and grow slowly.

British legal Translation qualification

after graduating with my master's degree in interpretation and translation in the UK, I worked as a translator in London. By chance, I took the Metropolitan Police Translation qualification examination and was lucky to get the qualification certificate. Let me show you. The certificate I got is as follows:

in addition, there is a DPSI exam (legal and medical subjects) in the UK, which covers consecutive Interpreting, simultaneous interpretation, and translation.

when preparing for the legal translation examination, vocabulary is a big problem. I have specifically consulted and recited a lot of legal terms. Some words have ready-made professional expressions, and some words are often translated in many different ways. In this case, I usually refer to the Anglo-American Law Dictionary of Yuanzhao, one of the most professional dictionaries in the legal industry.

the paper version of this dictionary is very thick (suitable for collection on the bookshelf), but the same phone app can be downloaded, which is convenient and can be consulted at any time. Some words such as probation officer that are not easy to translate can be found in the most authoritative Chinese translation (see picture below). In addition, because the judicial systems of the United Kingdom and Hong Kong are similar, we can also refer to the Hong Kong translation.

English court system

the British judicial system has its particularity, which is divided into three relatively independent systems: England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. In the specific setting of the court, there are Magistrate Court (District Court /Magistrates' Court-different versions of the translation may be slightly different) Criminal Court (Criminal Court), Supreme Court (Supreme Court), and so on. Among them, the local court mainly deals with some minor crimes; the criminal court mainly deals with more serious criminal offenses (murder, rape, etc.).

but there are also some crimes called "either way" offenses in the UK, which means cases that can be tried in both district and criminal courts (yes, it does sound complicated, and it took a lot of effort for me to go to court in the first place to straighten these out. In addition, the UK also has a tribunal (Special Court), which deals with immigration, employment benefits, and other matters.

Workflow of interpreters in court

when it comes to workflow, it should be distinguished by different types of courts.

generally speaking, interpreters need to arrive at the court about 30 minutes in advance to check in the specific court in which the case they want to translate will be heard. Some special courts will set up special waiting rooms for court interpreters. The interpreter will wait in this room after arriving at the court. There are also many courts where there is no special waiting room for interpreters, who usually register with the court summoner and then wait outside the court until the summoner notifies the interpreter to enter the court.

interpreters often take an oath before they formally begin translation. the court clerk will first ask the interpreter whether to read oath or affirmation, the former for interpreters with religious beliefs. The contents of the oath are as follows:

Oath:

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I swear by Almighty God that I will well and faithfully interpret and make the true explanation of all such matters and things as shall be required of me according to the best of my skill and understanding.

Affirmation:

if the interpreter needs to translate the defendant of the case and enters the dock after taking the oath, the judge will first ask for the defendant's name, home address, and other information, and then enter the formal trial session. The prosecution and the defendant's lawyer make relevant statements respectively. At this stage, the task of the interpreter is to do a whisper simultaneous interpretation for the defendant in the dock; if the object of translation is for witnesses who testify in court, then the task of the interpreter is to conduct consecutive Interpreting at the stage of witness testimony and court cross-examination, so it should also be treated differently according to the specific circumstances.

next, let's talk about a few points that we have experienced deeply in working in the courtroom:

fight an unprepared battle?

for a professional translator, preparation in advance is very important, for example, interpreters can often get meeting materials, speaker PPT, and so on before large-scale conference interpretation.

but court interpreters are not so lucky. The biggest difference between court interpreters and many other large conference interpreters is that the former almost needs to be "naked" in many cases. Moreover, a case may encounter some unexpected situations the night before or on the same day of the court day, so it is even more difficult for the interpreter to be well prepared.

in addition, before appearing in court, the court tends to restrict too much communication between the interpreter and the lawyer, because in the court's opinion, if the interpreter and the lawyer communicate, it is possible to be partial to the client to some extent, and the fairness and impartiality of the translation will be greatly reduced.

but in some cases, the interpreter can still make some preparations, for example, in some criminal court cases, before appearing in court, the translator needs to follow the barrister to the underground cell where the court is located to meet with the parties (the defendant) of the case. The lawyer will communicate with the parties about the progress of the case, ask about the parties' attitudes, etc., and the interpreter can take advantage of this opportunity to have a basic understanding of the case. This will be of great help to the later formal court translators. If the interpreter is directly employed by a law firm, the lawyer will also try his best to share the relevant files with the interpreter for reading and preparation, so it depends on which side of the employer to judge.

him or her? Sister-in-law or aunt?

as we all know, the pronunciation of "she" is the same as "he" in Chinese, so if the person involved in the case mentions TA, especially for the first time, the interpreter should follow up and confirm whether it is "he" or "she".

in addition, Chinese relatives (aunts, aunts, cousins, etc.) also need to pay special attention to the process of translation. in court, any words related to character relations are very important. otherwise, if you make a mistake, it will affect the understanding of the whole case of the lawyer and the judge, and even the final decision of the case. Therefore, when an interpreter encounters these situations of "semantic ambiguity", he or she needs to clarify and confirm with the parties in the case again.

but the process of clarification also requires skill. The interpreter cannot directly question the parties in the case where clarification is needed, but must first inform the judge. Otherwise, the judge who does not understand Putonghua will think that the interpreter is whispering to the parties in the case, which is not allowed in the process of court translation.

"Chinese" that you don't understand?

when it comes to court interpretation, many people's first reaction is "is it difficult to translate a lot of legal professional words?" "is it difficult to understand the judge's verdict?" In fact, in court, what bothers interpreters is not English listening, but Chinese listening. Because the English pronunciation of judges and lawyers is very standard, interpreters rarely have a headache about "Indian English" or particularly difficult accents.

I have also met some judges who interrupt the lawyer when the barrister uses some gorgeous and complicated sentences and ask the lawyer to express it in simple English so that the interpreter on the spot can understand it better (in fact, whenever there is a time like this, I particularly sympathize with the lawyers at the scene, after all, language skills are also one of the important means of defense. ).

on the other hand, in court, people who speak Putonghua tend to be particularly nervous, and when they are nervous, they tend to be illogical and confused, and there are often when they can't go on. If it is a general occasion, the interpreter can confirm with the client at any time or wait for the client to sort out the whole sentence before translating, but in court, judges and lawyers require the interpreter to translate every sentence accurately, even if the client only says a few words, the interpreter should translate truthfully, because even words that sound meaningless It has also become "extremely meaningful" on occasions like the courtroom. Therefore, how correctly understanding Chinese sentences and expressing them in the most accurate English is also a great challenge.

do you want to swear happily? Should you be proficient in the xx process?

Sorry, this part is a little bit that. But I have to talk about this.

talking about court cases, especially criminal cases, inevitably involves fights, arson, rape, robbery, etc., and the related usage and expression of words and expressions have become a series of big problems. All kinds of foul language in Chinese and English, ah, those scolding sentences, ah, must be familiar within the heart, to achieve "vivid, meaningful" in the translation.

of course, it is often at this time that I realize that my English is poor. After all, words such as "Belt and Road Initiative, mutual benefit, and win-win", which are often familiar to me at high-end meetings, are hardly used in court.

I remember that I once appeared in court to translate a rape case. In the whole process, we need to constantly translate "penile erection", "insertion" and other contents related to xx, but also to be accurate, clear, and smooth. This is indeed a difficult process. But despite this, in the face of these embarrassing contents, interpreters should be generous, calm, and calm, convey the meaning of the speaker completely and accurately, and should not be deliberately avoided or omitted, which is one of the professional qualities of interpreters. we must respect and comply with it. Guard.

in addition to the above, interpreters often encounter all kinds of unpredictable and thorny situations, such as "out-of-control prisoners", "angry family members", "insane witnesses" and so on. Therefore, you should learn to protect yourself while doing your job well.

"I like acting in a play, because every time I act from 18 to 50, I feel like I know my life again."

"I like acting in a play, because every time I act from 18 to 50, I feel like I know my life again."